Jacqui and Richard Abroad: August 2017

Monday, August 14, 2017

August 14th - Our visit to Erawan Waterfall, and the Bridge of the River Kwai

We ended up Jacqui's work week with a one hour Thai massage, followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was very nice! The massage was great, and having wine at dinner was also welcomed. Most places will serve beer, but not too many serve wine, as it is a lot more expensive than beer (all wines are imported whereas beer is produced in Thailand or cheaply imported, or not taxed as much?).

Jacqui spent most of Saturday at school, still trying to make her classroom be the way she wants it. I went shopping for a printer and then we went out with a friend for dinner. On Sunday, our friend Julie took us on a little less than a four hour drive to go for a hike at Erawan Waterfall. It was very nice: we got there around 10 am and the place wasn't too busy; it got really busy in the afternoon, when we were on our way back. The trail leading up to all seven levels is pretty shaded, which was great as it was pretty hot in the sun. On the way back home, we stopped in Kanchanaburi, to look at the bridge over the river Kwai - not the movie, the real thing! Younger people might have to google this!

Monday was a day off because of the Queen's birthday and Mother's day. It was Jacqui's third mother's day this year: one in March in Muscat, one in May in Canada (even though we weren't there, we still celebrated that one) and now one in August in Thailand. Where will the next one be? How many does she need??

Monday was another day spent at school. I went in to help her a bit. Her classroom is finally getting to be the way she wants it. She is happy with what she has and she is looking forward to a good year. I should get my police clearance on Wednesday and should be able to do substitute teaching from then on.

I went out on Monday to Rd 166, a very Thai neighbourhood nearby, to get dinner for tonight. We got all street food, a Pad Thai, a salad, one piece of corn and one whole chicken, for 240 bahts (about $9 CAD), and we have chicken for my lunch and for dinner for both of us tomorrow! Food is really cheap; it is almost pointless to cook. Seriously! It is so cool to go from vendor to vendor, and just pick and choose what you want. That will be the subject of a later blog entry!

Jacqui and Julie (our new friend) at the entrance of the park

Elephants made of wood

Detailing the 7 levels and elevation of the Falls

Close to the entrance of the park

You can swim in any pond created by the waterfalls

Clothing left for the Goddess

Taking a break, aka catching our breath!

Decideous forest - feels like home!

There were many monkeys at the top of the trail

The sign says it all ... time to go back down!

The bridge over the River Kwai: that's the bridge and that's the river!
So much (sad) history around that bridge. Google it if you have too.

Saturday, August 12th - Students have arrived!!

We spent all of last weekend getting Jacqui's classroom ready. It must be said that her building was under renovation; there were no walls or windows at the start of last week. By Saturday morning, the windows were in, the walls had been painted, the white boards had been put up, but that was about it. There was a little bit of furniture in the classroom and all the toys had been dumped into the classroom next door. Over the weekend, they put up the bulletin boards (which were not decorated by the time students got there on Tuesday), and shelves were assembled on Sunday so we could start organizing the classroom as such. Blinds were put up on Monday.
We made the place functional for now, and will rearrange this coming weekend, which is a long weekend (Monday off for Mother's Day - Jacqui's third this year!). Jacqui has 11 students, aged 3 to 4, and a teacher's aid (TA). She is very much looking forward to it but is not crazy about the conditions that she was put in to start the year (it's the same thing for the other 3 teachers at that level). They have a very good team and everyone seems to be willing to work with each other; it should be a fun year.
I will be coaching Varsity Boys Volleyball, with another accompanying spouse (his wife works with Jacqui in PreK3!). We had a coaches meeting on Monday then everyone went out for drinks at a nearby restaurant (owned and operated by a fellow teacher at RIS).
Jacqui's students started on Tuesday, three at a time for about 20 minutes per group. Everything went well, and parents and students look really nice. Students were there for about an hour on Wednesday, for about 2 hours on Thursday and until noon of Friday. Some of them were obviously crying, but nothing that Jacqui cannot handle. She will have a good year; it is such a nice school!
Meanwhile, I spend my days shopping and doing little things that need to be done when you move to a new house - getting Internet and cable connected, finding out where to shop for this and that, ... SO far, I haven't been bored or haven't really stopped! Not sure if I would have the time to work! (OK, I did spend two mornings watching ball games; gotta love this 11 hours time difference!). Grocery shopping takes a long time, as I don't have a clue about what most of the stuff on the shelves is. Almost all the labels are written in Thai, which I do not read yet. There is also a whole lot of stuff that I have never seen before, and the stuff that I am familiar with does not seem to exist around here! There is a lot of guessing when I put something in my cart!!

Jacqui's classroom - it has come a long way in one week. It will get rearranged this weekend!

Monday, August 7, 2017

Saturday, August 5th - Jacqui's first week at Ruamrudee International School

Wow, we have been here for more than a week, and so much has gone on since! We started our weekend, Saturday morning, July 29th, by getting all the new teachers and spouses and kids on a bus, at 6:30 am to go for a medical. Blood test, urine test, ECG, vision test, BP and a meeting with a doctor to end the process. It took a good part of our Saturday. We also went to a mall to get our Internet/cable hookup organized.
Sunday morning,we ventured to a side street close to our neighbourhood. It was so cool. It is very Thai and they have food stalls everywhere, The food was so good.
Jacqui has had meetings all week and spent a little bit of time planning for her classroom, which isn't ready yet (as in "construction zone" ie no windows or walls yet). I have met with the Athletic director and we agreed that I will be co-coaching the Varsity Boys volleyball team. I'm looking forward to that; it should be fun!
We had a pot-luck dinner on Tuesday; it was so cool. We all met a one of the VP's house and went out for street food. Everyone brought it back and that was our dinner. It was so tasty and gave everyone a chance to taste a bunch of various food!
Internet/cable people came up on Tuesday afternoon but could not install anything as there is an outstanding balance at this address. They will need a few days to sort it out, so for now, no TV, no WiFi.
Jacqui had meetings for most of the week, but never had a chance to get organized in her classroom,as it was not physically ready. There were no walls or windows until Friday; they revamped the whole area, so it made it hard to get organized! That being said, the school looks great! They have so many resources.
We spent Saturday morning (August 5th) at the Sammakorn Market (pretty big!) then went to school for about 5 hours, moving stuff in Jacqui's room and trying to get things organized. It will all get done eventually, it always does!

Going back to the first line of this post: we now have been here for two weeks, and haven't cooked yet!!!